Here is everything you need for Connections #1,252, the puzzle for Saturday, November 14, 2026. Start with the board, move through the hints, and open the solution only when you must.
Our read of the board: two of the category names are long, which tends to mean a specific, lateral theme. As always, the purple group is the one built to mislead; if you see an obvious category of five or six words, that is the trap.
Today's board
The sixteen words, in the order they appear on the board. No spoilers here.
COMPLEXCHESSBATTLEADVANCEDMARRIAGEPROGRESSIVECENTERMOTTLEGOFACILITYMODERNOTHELLOTRIBSTRATEGOCAMPUSFOREMOST
Hints for today's Connections
Three levels of help. Level one nudges, level two points, level three names the categories one at a time.
Level 1 · The categories, by first letterYellow: starts with C, one wordGreen: starts with L, 4 wordsBlue: starts with S, 3 wordsPurple: starts with B, 6 words
Level 2 · One word from each groupYellow contains ADVANCEDGreen contains CENTERBlue contains OTHELLOPurple contains TRIB
Level 3 · The category namesYellow category
CUTTING-EDGE
Green category
LOCATIONS FOR AN INSTITUTION
Blue category
STRATEGY BOARD GAMES
Purple category
BABY GEAR WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED
Today's Connections answers
The full solution to Connections #1,252 is behind the button, yellow to purple. Nothing is shown until you click.
▶ Reveal the answers to Connections #1,252
CUTTING-EDGE
ADVANCED, FOREMOST, MODERN, PROGRESSIVE
Yellow · the most straightforward group
LOCATIONS FOR AN INSTITUTION
CAMPUS, CENTER, COMPLEX, FACILITY
Green · usually a step harder
STRATEGY BOARD GAMES
CHESS, GO, OTHELLO, STRATEGO
Blue · where the red herrings start to bite
BABY GEAR WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED
BATTLE, MARRIAGE, MOTTLE, TRIB
Purple · the trickiest, often wordplay
Yesterday's Connections
Connections #1,251 on Friday, November 13 had these four groups (our full write-up is still up):
USE THE INTERNETBROWSE, SCROLL, SEARCH, SURF
MEDIA ATTENTIONCOVERAGE, EXPOSURE, PRESS, PUBLICITY
THINGS THAT ARE TOWEDBARGE, GLIDER, TRAILER, WATER SKIER
BRAIN ___FREEZE, TEASER, TRUST, WAVES
How Connections works
Sixteen words hide four groups of four that share something in common. Pick four, submit, and the row locks in if you are right; four wrong submissions end the game. The groups are colour-coded by difficulty, yellow being the most direct and purple the most devious, and most boards include at least one word that could plausibly sit in two groups. Today's puzzle was edited by Wyna Liu at The New York Times.
A reliable habit: before submitting anything, find the five or six words that seem to belong to one obvious category and work out which of them is the imposter. Solving the strange group first is often easier than solving the obvious one.
That is Saturday's board. If purple got you, you are in good company; see you tomorrow for #1,253.